Hay, Mini Nationals

[questa]

I think I have written about this event before, but I can't find it again.

Hay is a country town in western NSW 690km from Adelaide and about the same from Sydney. We have a long weekend each June and for the last 50 years members of many various mini clubs from all over Oz and even NZ have met there for Friday...reunion party (wear crazy hats) Saturday parade, show and shine competition, then out to the competition ground for the motor sport events, dinner and fireworks display.

Sunday brings out the real competition. 6 lanes are in place and the drivers timed as they drive in the different patterns on the flat. hard and dusty grounds. The easiest run is a slalom among the flags, others like clover leaf or driving through a narrow corridor and around flags etc. The official name is a motorkhana, I think in UK it is gymkhana.
Sunday night is dress up party, presentations and dance till you drop. Monday we limp home...it is a l-o-n-g day on a flat plain home.

I helped set up the first khana in 1967 and my eldest son grew up with it, winning outright 9 times. Now my grand-daughter is over 12 and has her licence to race. Last weekend she raced flawlessly and came 61st outright from 110 finishers. The man who came 62nd was the winner of the original 1967 event, and she beat a lot of experienced competitors. Her Dad got his 9th win, so much rejoicing in the family.

Sorry to bore you all but I had to brag to someone!

[mickthecactus]

What are they racing in questa?

[questa]

Minis of any derivation...Morris 850 to today's BMW Minis referred to as "Bimis", Coopers and Mokes of varying engine sizes. Even a class for non-minis which is rarely contested. Classes even out the competition with the fastest being the big engined Leyland Moke. This is the car my son and grand-kids use. He bought it when he was 16 and it has been driven hard for 30+ years. Some of the cars are very show and shine but the family moke has the required roll-bars and restraints and nothing else added.

The skill is precision of driving...hand brake turns as close to the flag, without bumping it in the sea of dust, front-end throws and drifting (sideways motoring) all as fast as you can.
It is very close competition. Last year only 1.5 seconds separated 1st from 5th outright places, this year it was .15 seconds from 1st to 2nd place.

One of the NSW club members is a professional documentary maker. He made a 30 minute doco last year to celebrate the 50th Hay. Each year he does a short video. If you wish to see the fun it is on You Tube. Just enter

" I can't wait for Hay ". A couple of shorter videos follow which also show competition

[questa]

Hay, 2019

Well, this year's event has thrown up some surprises. It is time for me to brag as only grandmas can.

The motorkhana (see description above) had 108 cars finish.The drivers were mostly the 35-65 age group who have been competing for years. This year the surprise was the 18 drivers under 16 years, the next generation, who competed against the old hands.

My grand-daughter, Zoe, has had her competition licence for 2 years, this was her 2nd appearance...last year she did well and had been practicing on a private track

My grand-son, Josh, was overjoyed that the "long dark years were over" and he had his racing licence at last. Ever since he was a toddler he has been immersed in driving, with a battery powered car to learn balance at 2 years, to a full-on simulator at 11 yrs. While the others were playing around on the Saturday, Josh was walking around the tracks and memorizing the twists and turns he had to do in the events.

Sunday was very dusty, but word got around and soon Josh had a small crowd following him. He was turning in times to match many of the older drivers and not making any mistakes. Zoe got swallowed by a cloud of dust and lost time getting clear of it.

Their father was also competing, having won it outright 9 times over the 50 years it has been running.
Presentation night.
The winner was a Sydney man...1st Outright with time of 140.40 seconds.

2nd Outright was my son with time 140.90...half a second behind 1st

66th Outright was Zoe with time of 162.94

the hero of the night was Josh 53rd Outright with time of 158.16

Both took out their class trophies and Josh won the "Rookie of the year" trophy...youngest person to do so.

As my son collected his #2 trophy he said "Thank you very much, it was good competition..." then raising his arm and pointing at Josh he cried out..."But THAT was AWESOME" and the crowd went wild.

Don't miss next year's adventures...